Page 35 of Ashes of Honor

“Garnet ivy,” he said as though I’d understand what that meant. “Grows down south.”

Invasive. His lips tightened in a knowing way.We are not alone. They’re here, watching us. Close by if I had to guess. Rileywas powerful and even his magic had limitations. So where were they?Whowere they?

I could take a daring guess.

The rebels were present, hidden among Ronan’s soldiers. The garnet ivy was their mark, a way to silently communicate that they had infiltrated Ronan’s camp without him ever realizing. To the untrained eye, it was a foreign plant creeping along the edges of his tents. To us, it was a symbol of defiance.

“Plan?”

“No plan. Plans can be watched. Just follow my lead,” I said, head high, confidence even higher as I made my way to Ronan’s front door.

Amaia

“Youdo not, under any circumstances, summon me.”

I rolled my eyes. What a greeting. His soldiers had done everything but buy me dinner first in their search of both our bodies and our bags. It’d be less irritating of an experience if they had bothered to take our weapons but they hadn’t. No. That was just another display of Ronan taking autonomy from us any way he could without going back on our deal.

Riley was locked in a pissing match with Malachai. The two of them stared at each other, faces full of snarls of different meaning. Where Riley promised Malachai death, Malachaipromised him more pain. I hated myself for bringing him here, taunting someone he wanted to destroy in front of him like a worm on a fishing hook. Nevertheless, he was the one I trusted the most to behave. So behave he would.

“What are you rambling about, Ronan?” I said lackadaisically. Crossing my arms, I scanned the room for any sign of the presence of rebels. None stared back at me.

Nope, only Bietoletti and Hollis—an emissary I rarely saw unless it was him going out his way to piss me off. They stared through me in the same way they usually did, as if I were unimportant enough to look at with unglazed eyes.

Ronan was on me within a few steps. His hand snapped across my face, the pain of this minute compared to the rage coursing through me at the action. “Respect, woman.”

I kept my movements measured. Controlled. Meeting those eyes I had memories of love and hate in, I remained level-headed. Riley twitched at my back. One hand out to make him hold, I raised my head. He would not break me.

Violence was the easiest way to maintain power. But if I told myself his violence meant nothing, that it was no more than a training exercise for the fight I would bring to his side of the world, it was too easy to pass off. Physical pain meant nothing to me. That I could endure. Losing my home—my family—I could not.

“I want to make it abundantly clear to you who reports to who around here,” he said, turning his back to me.

I scoffed, “You’re the one that came running like a dog to a whistle.”

He glared at me over his shoulder, pouring tea into two cups that appeared entirely out of place. “I’ve come to discuss business—other aspects of our deal. You demanding Bietoletti to organize a meeting was a behavior I’m lucky enough to correct in person. Let me be explicitly clear regarding my emissaries. Theyare guests in your home. Bietoletti, Hollis, and Tyler do not fall under your command. Any attempt to do so will be seen as an act of aggression, which I’m afraid leads you and me one step closer to talks of war. Is that clear?”

I clenched my fists, needing to feel my nails dig into my skin.Deep breaths. The smirk peaking above the cup of tea he held in the air triggered me. It was at that moment I decided to start digging into the well of my magic I’d never touched. I wasn’t ready yet, but I would be. Ronan’s time was coming.

My own grin in place, I pulled a chair from the long table in the center of the room. “I love it when you come to visit.” I plopped down beside him. The simmering anger at my lack of respect practically had him vibrating next to me. He jerked his chair back. I fought back a laugh. “By the way, since I’m here and speaking with the source. I’m going to need you to sign off on the whole trade agreement thing before people starve.”

“It almost makes you wonder if starving your prisoners would help your rations go further.” Hollis smirked. It was more of an animalistic snarl. Bietoletti chuckled, only silenced by the harsh stare of Malachai.

Ronan raised a finger. “Ah, yes. Perhaps that. Now, I’m going to offer some leniency here and ignore whatever it is you thought you held over me. Kill them, release them—it is of no concern to me. I have little use for soldiers weak enough to have been captured.”

“The trade agreement,” I said through gritted teeth. “Ronan.”

He cleared his throat, forcing his emotions back in check and meeting me with the same stone-hard gaze Seth had rewarded me with many times. “On the topic of trade, you and I have come to understand people to be a resource.”

“Yes,” I agreed. “Except I believe them to be invaluable.”

“Same as I.”

I snorted, taking a small spoonful of sugar and dumped it into the tea. Stirring, I peered at him from the side of my eye, answering as politely as I could feign. “Mm, not in the same capacity.”

“No,” he said with a laugh full of humor I could not relate to. “Perhaps not. How’s my daughter doing, anyway? That girl can be a handful.”

“Prosperous,” Riley answered. I’d never seen him so cold.

Ronan’s eyes moved over him, a pause stretching between them as he took him in. Dismissively, he waved his hand, no longer caring to discuss the topic. Odd for a man who claimed to focus on God, country, and family. Which is exactly why I would never bite his bullshit. This was about power. It always would be for him.

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